4605. 'Reuben, Jacob's firstborn' means the good of faith. This is clear from the meaning of 'the firstborn' as faith, dealt with in 352, 367, 2435, 3325; also from the representation of 'Jacob' as the good of natural truth, dealt with in 4538, and from that of 'Reuben' as the essential nature of faith. For in the genuine sense 'Reuben' means the truth of faith, 3861, 3866, but after the truth of faith has become good he means the good of faith. Furthermore faith essentially is charity, and so the truth of faith essentially is the good of faith, because it cannot have any existence at all unless it springs from charity - that is, truth cannot have any real existence unless it springs from good. This being so, once a person has been regenerated good occupies the first place, or is the firstborn, see 3325, 3494. This is the reason why 'Reuben, Jacob's firstborn' at this point means the good of faith. A similar instance of this meaning occurs in Moses,

May Reuben live and not die; and his mortal men will be [few in] numbers. Deuteronomy 33:6.

The reason 'Reuben' here means the good of faith is that in the Prophecy of Moses regarding the sons of Jacob, Reuben is placed first and Judah second, thus in a different ordering in this prophecy from that of Jacob in Genesis 49. For, as stated above at the end of 4603, the order in which their names appear is determined by the state belonging to the subject under discussion.

[2] Similarly in John,

I heard the number of the sealed, a hundred and forty-four thousand sealed out of every tribe - twelve thousand sealed out of the tribe of Judah, twelve thousand sealed out of the tribe of Reuben, twelve thousand sealed out of the tribe of Gad. Revelation 7:4-5.

In this case Judah is mentioned first, Reuben second, and Gad third. These three in this place make up a first group; and because the Lord's kingdom is the subject here, 'Judah' means celestial good such as exists in the inmost or third heaven, 'Reuben' spiritual good, which is the same as the good of faith, such as exists in the second or middle heaven, and 'Gad' the good of the natural, such as exists in the first heaven. But a different meaning is found in the prophecy of Deborah and Barak,

Princes in Issachar were with Deborah; and as was Issachar, so was Barak, into the valley he was sent under his command ¹ - into the divisions of Reuben great decrees of the heart. Why do you dwell between two burdens to hear the hissings of the droves? - towards the divisions of Reuben great searchings of the heart. Judges 5:15-16.

Unless he knows what 'Issachar', 'Deborah', 'Barak', and 'Reuben' represent, and what 'princes', 'the valley', 'a division', 'decrees of the heart', 'two burdens' and 'the hissings of the droves' mean, no one can know what these words are used to mean. But 'Reuben', it is evident, means faith here.

სქოლიოები:

352. 'The firstborn of the flock' means the holy which is the Lord's alone. This becomes clear from the firstborn in the representative Church, where everything was holy because it had regard to the Lord, who alone is 'the Firstborn'. Love and faith deriving from it are the firstborn. All love is the Lord's and not a trace of it man's, and this is why the Lord alone is 'the Firstborn'. This was represented in the Churches of the ancient era by the requirement to consecrate the firstborn of man and of beast to Jehovah, Exodus 13:2, 12, 15. It was also represented by the tribe of Levi, which in the internal sense means love - though Levi was born later than Reuben and Simeon, who in the internal sense mean faith - being taken instead of all the firstborn and becoming the priesthood, Numbers 3:40-46; 8:14-20. That the Lord as regards His Human Essence is the Firstborn of all is clear from the following statement in David,

He will cry to Me, You are My Father, My God, and the Rock of My Salvation; I will also make Him as the Firstborn, supreme over the kings of the earth. Psalms 89:26-27.

And in John,

Jesus Christ, the Firstborn from the dead, and Prince of the kings of the earth. Revelation 1:5.

Please note that the firstborn of worship mean the Lord, while the firstborn of the Church mean faith.